When dwarfism and stupidity meet
Pet Quality Mini Horse – Super End Of Year Sale!!!!
With a description like that, you’re probably expecting to see a cute, happy little mini. Maybe you’re thinking, “Hey, here’s a responsible breeder. They recognize this filly isn’t breeding stock and as such are selling her as a pet. Well that’s just great! Maybe there is hope in this crazy world of ours for the craigslist/kijiji set! Wowee!”
Well, you’d be wrong.
First off – not sure if the seller just doesn’t know what they’re talking about or if they’re hoping to find a dope to buy this poor girl because those aren’t just feet issues. Those are some major fetlock and suspensory issues as well. Sure, they could all be working against each other, the feet could be contributing to the severity of the fetlock/suspensory issues but make no mistake – those lower hind legs ain’t right. Hell, the fronts aren’t much better!
You know what helps this kind of issue? Proper veterinary care from the time she was born. There are supportive boots that, if used early enough, can make a world of difference in correcting these types of lower limb deformities. Unfortunately it would appear her owners were either ignorant of this fact or simply unwilling to put the effort in. Asshats. If you plan on breeding horses, you should educate yourself first!
You know what else helps with feet issues? Actually getting the fucking farrier out! Shocking concept, we know! Judging by the length of those fronts, we’re guessing this little girl has no idea what a farrier is. This would be disturbing enough with a yearling that didn’t suffer from hoof and leg issues; with her it’s blatant neglect and cruelty. Double fucking asshats.
What they also neglected to mention was that this little girl suffers from dwarfism. That ginormous, disproportionate belly is a dead giveaway. The thing that really gets us about dwarfism is that it’s kind of like HYPP; it’s a hereditary disease that asshat breeders tend to ignore. And horses suffer because of it. Now, we are aware that the genetics behind dwarfism are complicated and that, unlike HYPP, there’s no simple genetic test. But the responsible thing to do with a mini that produces dwarfs is to remove it from the breeding shed in order to avoid perpetuating the gene(s).
We’d be willing to bet good money that the breeders of this “pet quality mini” are going to breed her sire and/or dam again and risk producing another similar disaster. Because that, unfortunately, is what she is: a genetic disaster.
Poor little girl. We hope someone saves her from the asshats.
Posted on January 3, 2012, in Bad Horse Ads and tagged Asshat Award, backyard breeders, bad ads, Horse, Snarky Rider. Bookmark the permalink. 22 Comments.
You know you want one! 
snarkyrider 
The vast majority of mini breeders annoy me. Not only is perpetuating dwarfism common in the quest for a ‘teacup pony’ (Teacup dog breeders do similar things), but many of them don’t actually train them.
I remember when a friend of my mother-in-law’s decided mini horses would make them more money than ostriches. They proudly showed off a paddock full of *completely untrained mares* turned out with a *completely untrained stallion*. They weren’t terrible – reasonably cute, reasonably well put together, but not a single one of them was halter broke!
Minis can do everything larger horses can do except be ridden. They can drive, they can do liberty work up to and including high level dressage and classical dressage, they can jump. Check out the form on the little guy in the middle here! http://www.kenleepark.com.au/SHOW%20JUMPING.htm
If more mini breeders bred their minis to DO something rather than going for the Guinness Record For Tininess…then the dwarf problem would be solved in a couple of generations.
That is actually really cool! I had no idea there were dressage and jumping competitions for minis. The new performance in-hand competitions are fantastic.
The minis at our barn are all drivers. My driving capabilities are way below average and yet my trainer keeps threatening to teach me. 😉
Poor baby. She looks miserable.
Yikes! That photo made me scream.
oh god…. where did you find her add? which province?
Very sad to see she’s spent a year (or longer) like this. I have met some absolutely stellar minis, all with good manners and who do trail, jumping, driving, or are just well-behaved pals.
Then I’ve met a few as Jennifer mentioned with zero training at all. It reminds of the people who may have a Yorkie or Chihuahua and don’t think the dog needs good manners and to be house trained because ‘It’s so cute!’
Argh! Maybe there’s a vet school near this asshat breeder that could try and help? It seems like the chances she’ll have any quality of life drop with each moment.
Her legs make me want to throw up. I can’t stop picturing them snapping off at the fetlock.
I totally flinched when I saw that photo before I even read the add. 😦 Poor baby girl. You know, I got my arab because of neglected feet and vet care. I hope someone picks her up and fines those asses.
That just makes me sad. The only horse in my life right now is the mini-beast lazying about the backyard. Nothing much we can do with him in winter (sadly no sled runners for our cart and it is very hard to keep warm winter driving when your temps are mid twenties). He is certainly more of a QH looking mini, and the Arab look goes better with the judges in our area. But my mother never picked him up as a show horse either. He does Pet Therapy work, going around our area into various locations bringing joy to everyone he meets. He has been trained to drive, jumps beautifully in-hand, and has the sweetest temperament when it comes to working with people.
My mother got him off a local breeder, joined the local club. I am sure one or two members have a dwarf somewhere, but we have been around to several of their barns. All nicely cared for, all halter broke from what we could see, and I am pretty sure all of their breeding stock has been in the halter and driving ring. There are some gorgeous athletic miniatures to be found out there. Sadly, the majority of the world sees the dwarfs and/or horrendously fat ones and squeal ‘oh how cute little howrsies’ and never get to stop and imagine them being the model of a full sized horse.
Our little guy, if he was only 15.2hh instead of 8.3hh would have been a lovely western pony.
I feel sorry for that girl. She needs a home.
Also. Too many mini stallions are left entire because they’re so small they HAVE to be easy to handle, right?
GOOD GAWD! My chin just dropped to the floor when I saw those feet! There’s something REALLY wrong when a horse’s fetlocks are almost parallel to the ground. It’s horse, not a cheetah!
P.S. I hate mini breeders!
That photo made me want to cry. And then go beat those people up. That poor little mare. I hope someone buys her and euths her – I don’t see her having any kind of a fun life.
😦
i almost threw up when i saw this poor souls feet and legs. God I hope someone rescues her and helps her.
Really makes me angry when folks like this give the rest of the responsible mini breeders a bad name and rep. I own and breed (not so much lately) Minis, I show them as well. They are all papered, and I have never had anything like this born at my barn. I know it happens, but a lot of it is poor nutrition of the dam during pregnancy, and it looks like this poor little girl has missed a few meals herself. I don’t agree with the assesment that the huge belly automatically = dwarf. I have a dwarf mare that is certianly not pot bellied. The pot bellies usually seen in the dwarves are where the internal organs continue to grow while the body does not. This little gal is lacking a topline and good muscle tone and IMO, making her belly look bigger than it should.
Wish I was close enough to scoop her up, poor baby.
I think she looks wormy, myself.
I thought wormy too.
Oh, a couple of sites to check out: http://www.minibreeders.com/horsieheaven/
Make sure to look at Junior & Blade on page three, and Moonshadow, Buckshot and Jolly Rancher on page two.
Good information at “Tiny, cute, and BEWARE!” http://www.dragonaraminiatures.com/DWARFISM.htm
Wow, if there ever was a Snark post in need of more innappropriate language it is this one. What the fuck is wrong with people?!
In lieu of a “like” button – LOVE!! hehe
VERY much agreed! I saw that picture and I almost actually said “What the f*** are these people thinking?” (and I NEVER cuss!)
Hey! This is totally off-topic.
One of my favorite artists is George Stubbs who is known for his work with horses. He’s the first person to try to reproduce images of horses that were anatomically correct. He was commissioned to paint the horses of very rich noblemen and women. Many of his paintings are of thoroughbreds. I think it would be cool to compare and contrast the conformation of best of the modern thoroughbreds with the very best of the thoroughbreds circa the 1700’s. Horses in this era were still painted as ‘jumping’ when galloping. It wasn’t until the invention of the high speed camera in 1878 that they figured out just exactly what horses look like when moving out.
I find this sort of thing fascinating and would love reading about it. Just an idea. 🙂
Just a big WTF to this…horrifying. And yes, it’s AMAZING how much CALLING THE FUCKING FARRIER helps horses born with not-so-perfect legs and feet.
IDIOTS! Poor mini. 😦